PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Nicholls State University men's tennis team traveled to Pensacola, Fla. on Sunday to take on the University of West Florida and lost a tough match, falling 4-3 at the Carson Tennis Complex.

Nicholls (6-6) fell behind early after West Florida, who is ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division II, swept doubles play to take a 1-0 lead. Dmitry Kozionov and Razvan Cojocaru lost the No. 1 match 8-3, Damjan Despotovski and Palash Tiwari fell in extra points 9-8, and Shayann Vaezzadeh and Matshidiso Malope were defeated 8-4.

In singles play, Vaezzadeh evened the count at 1-1 with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout in the No. 2 position before Kozionov put the Colonels up a point with a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 3. However, the Argonauts would win the next three points to clinch the match as Cojocaru fell 6-3, 6-2; Tiwari lost 6-3, 6-4; and Malope was dropped in three sets 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Despotovski took the final match for the Colonels at the No. 1 slot 7-6, 7-6.

The Colonels will complete their Florida road-trip on Tuesday when they take on Florida A&M at 1 p.m.

The complete results for the match against UWF are below.

#8 University of West Florida 4, Nicholls State 3

Singles competition
1. Damjan Despotovski (NICH) def. #20 Andrey Pozhidaev (UWF) 7-6, 7-6
2. Shayann Vaezzadeh (NICH) def. Sean Gunnels (UWF) 6-0, 6-0
3. Dmitry Kozionov (NICH) def. Mike Lue (UWF) 6-2, 6-0
4. Domenico Sano (UWF) def. Palash Tiwari (NICH) 6-3, 6-4
5. Guilherme Canineo (UWF) def. Razvan Cojocaru (NICH) 6-3, 6-2
6. Lukas Larsson (UWF) def. Matshidiso Malope (NICH) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Sean Gunnels/Andrey Pozhidaev (UWF) def. Kozionov/ Cojocaru (NICH) 8-3
2. Domenico Sano/Jose Carlos Tolentin (UWF) def. Despotovski/ Tiwari (NICH) 9-8
3. Lukas Larsson/Mike Lue (UWF) def. Vaezzadeh/ Malope (NICH) 8-4

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,3,5,4,6,1)